Age In The Modeling Industry

[Luxx]

This year there appears to be a supermodel renaissance occurring within the industry with old school girls snagging campaigns and covers left and right. However iconic there faces may be modeling is still primarily the a business of youth and a young woman's game. This is a thread about age within the modeling industry - dealing with issues of ageism, modeling past 30 and the way in which age is dealt with within modeling itself.

I suppose I should start off with a question - are models over the age of 30 viewed differently by the industry and/or the fans? I would be inclined to say yes but what do you think?

 

[kahlilg]

thank you for starting this thread!

to answer the question- yes they are viewed differently. the modeling industry is very ageist. actually no i take that back society is ageist. linda evangelista is not only the queen bee but a genuinely beautiful woman. do i think she should a lot of major ad campaigns? no. but i don't think she should be restricted from a campaign/ed because "She's past her prime." i think linda has done a lot for the fashion world and she would never be "past her prime."
i like fresh young faces too, but that doesn't mean that this woman, who has amazing talent as a model, should never be heard from or seen from again. it's fine if you think she isn't a good model? but saying "grandma go home?" like c'mon. are you serious?

 

[model_mom]

Any modeling done by most women over 30 is more of the commercial variety. To land a campaign or have any kind of high fashion editorial, you had better have a fashion history or star power to back you up. Most of the older supermodel's that are picking up some major campaigns right now are doing so because of connections they made when they were much younger.

 

[Fontenrose]

It's not just the modeling/fashion industry. I was kind of shocked during the Spitzer scandal, when we learned so much about the escort industry, to hear a quote that an escort's 'career' is over at about 25, so she had better put some money away for 'retirement'. "Wow", my thought was, "that's just like modeling."

 

[Spiral1532]

What I want to know is: Why are there very young models in the high fashion business? I can understand a 14-year-old girl modeling for Seventeen magazine and the like. But why are girls that age modeling high fashion? Why are they doing runway shows for top designers at such a young age?

 

[model_mom]

There's a thread about it here.

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f96/model-s-age-when-start-how-young-too-young-20586.html

 

[kfan]

on a totally superficial note, I think slightly older models, like Anja and Magdelena Frackowiak bring a certain look to clothes and ed's that someone like a Karlie Kloss cant bring. they just look better to me. on a serious note, I think that sometimes the use of very young girls in major fashion shows/print work borders on the obscene in the sense of the way they are presented. I'm not conservative or prudish, I just think its weird sometimes to see a little girl dressed-up and prancing around in what are clearly clothes made for women---not young girls. I understand why young girls are used, but it would be nice to see a shift towards using older girls (as in young women)

 

[SnejanaIsMyMuse]

Totally agree.Karlie and the younger girls are good in their own ways, but the slightly older ones bring something different.

But what annoys me is how broad shows like ANTM are.It is stupid to expect a 26 year old woman to make it in high fashion right away.Lara, Raquel, and Carmen are older but they have been doing for years and years.

 

[model_mom]

All the "make me a model shows" have to use 18 or older(maybe 21 ?)year old models in their shows. NY, Milan and Paris might be able to subject the 14-16 year olds to the long hours and hardships of modeling because it's all out of sight to most of the public....but the minute they put them on public television at that age for television viewers all over the world to see the outcry against it would shut the show down in no time.

 

[bun-bun]

I think a lot of it has to do with this: fashion is very innovative, the constant change, the new thing to wear, the new trend. Models just follow that very same path: the new girl, the fresh face. Why that new girl or fresh face has to be 14 years old every season is beyond me, as clearly anyone can be the new girl or fresh face.